Spark
by mantisbelle
Summary: Arthur Watts is used to many things. Insolence from his teammates, battling at their sides, and he knows the ins and outs of how they're meant to work. Or rather, that's what he thought until the day that Salem decided it was wise to bring home a child that was supposedly going to be their Fall Maiden one day.


"It's a damn shame you know." He spoke all too calmly, checking his watch as though he would find something interesting there other than the time of day. "You leave for Menagerie for a few months and come back so _sloppy_."

Watts stayed leaned back against the wall in Salem's training room, watching his two teammates that he was expected to fight alongside that day while they were all in one place. He wasn't so deeply interested in the two of them most days, but sometimes it was best to do as Salem demanded without fighting her the entire while over the issue.

In Arthur's case, it meant that he was to train alongside Tyrian and Hazel, though he didn't have much to do with either of them in battle. He was best staying towards the back and hurling electricity at whoever came into his line of sight. He didn't need to waste his time and energy dirtying his hands like the others.

And yet he was expected to share a training floor with them like a common fighter.

Tyrian looked like he was ready to drop. The man's aura had broken long ago, but there was a consistent flow of venom from the end of his tail that had been maintained steadily over the last hour. When they were done, Arthur was inevitably going to have to tend to Tyrian's wounds, whether he liked it or not.

It seemed that no matter how many times he told Tyrian to pull back after his aura broke, the man would never listen and would never learn. Watts would never understand why. All that he knew was that at the end of the day, it would be _his_ job to clean up Tyrian's mess. That wasn't to say that Tyrian wasn't capable, he was mostly just impulsive.

Hazel leaned against the wall beside him, seemingly tired, but taking a chance to pour some water out of a bottle into his hand so that he could push his hair back away from his brow, for just a little bit. "Yes." He agreed with Arthur, staring Tyrian down for a second, though Watts recognized the look as being how Hazel indicated that he was bored rather than scolding. Not that Hazel could be bothered to scold. "Sloppy."

Tyrian looked between the two of them, looking slightly dejected as he took a seat where he was standing, his tail flicking out behind him and his eyes finally returning to their normal golden color. "I don't believe that form is so important if you are effective."

"Of course not." Watts grinned, staring Tyrian down. "Why, I'm sure that you wouldn't know proper form if it hit you in the face, Tyrian."

Hazel sighed heavily, not wanting to get between things.

This was their normal routine, Arthur reminded himself. The three of them could take down enemies with ease together in a ballet of sorts. If they needed to, the three of them would have been able to execute something as it rose freshly for battle at Salem's command.

The good thing was that she wasn't currently present, off communing with her Seers or whatever it was that she did when she was alone. Mostly, Arthur wasn't interested to know what the woman got up to most of the time.

All that really mattered to him now was that she was out of the way now, so he could at least spend his training time with the others as he pleased.

Tyrian pouted slightly, and his tail flicked again, this time a bit more violently. "So long as I am pleasing the Queen, form matters not, dear Arthur." He sat up properly and looked up at the vaulted ceiling above them. "All that matters is that she is pleased."

"Yes, but of course." Arthur hummed, frowning before rolling his eyes and deciding to continue speaking. "I suppose that your fanaticism towards her would suggest that." He watched the faunus, and couldn't help but smile when he saw the man's eyes flash from gold to that dangerous violet that he had become so familiar with.

Tyrian knew better than to attack, of course. He'd seen punishment enough for losing his temper in the past that he wouldn't dare do it again.

"Arthur." Hazel spoke up, his voice gruff but his voice as hard as ever. Almost deadly, and not in the same way that Tyrian was. "You know she won't be pleased with this."

Arthur rolled his eyes and took a step away from the wall upon which he was leaning at the moment before taking a few extremely confident strides forward and looking between his two teammates. "She's never pleased with our performance." There was a glint in his eye as he focused in on Tyrian for just a second before turning his attention back to Hazel. "Of course, one wouldn't need to guess as to what's dragging us down."

There it was again, that riling up in Tyrian's form as the man got more and more tense until he was inevitably going to lash out and strike. In which case, the three of them would turn to man to man combat as was often the most useful for them. After all, their line of work didn't put them in the way of monsters as much as other things would.

But even then, Tyrian would never sting. He wouldn't dare even make so much as an attempt.

Again Hazel spoke up, this time taking a step away from the wall as well. "Enough." He said, commanding the attention of the entire room in a way that was enough to leave Arthur with a slight pang of jealousy. "We've had enough of a break."

Arthur sighed, mostly since he didn't normally favor training with the others, but seeing as that was what Salem wanted, he supposed he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. "Very well." He finally said as Tyrian rose up to his feet, tail poised to strike.

The three of them fell into formation at the centre of the room in a way that had become familiar. Hazel would stay at the front and to the right, since he was best in hand-to-hand combat and grappling. Tyrian would stay on the left, and flanking Watts' position at their centre. They'd done this nearly a thousand times already, this was no different from what they had done in the past.

Now it was a matter of waiting.

Arthur did his best to block out the others and just focus on the task at hand and what he had to face. In a number of seconds, the three of them were going to be faced with an enemy that they were going to need to take down as efficiently as possible, and then they would have to hold off waves of enemies until the three of them were ready to drop.

Judging by the state of things already, Arthur was sure that it wasn't going to take all that long for it to happen.

He heard nothing more than the sounds of his partner's breathing, and then the sound of Tyrian's footsteps as he broke off from the others, always the first to hear and always the first to strike. Watts and Hazel didn't need to say a word to each other and shifted their positions, with Watts preparing his semblance and readying himself for a strike, while Hazel dropped into a position so that he could grab onto whatever got close once Tyrian drew it near.

That didn't take long, because it never did.

Their battles had been choreographed in this way.

A beowulf was thrown across the room, likely by a strike from Tyrian's tail, and that was it. Watts hurled his first bolt of lightning at the beast, striking it square in the chest, and Hazel quickly followed by drawing in close and grabbing the stunned beast by the skull before smashing it down into the ground beneath his feet so violently that the plating that protected the beast cracked and broke.

One down, now it was just a question of how many more there were to come that the three of them would have to face.

The door to the hall opened, and the three of them realized that something was wrong almost immediately. Arthur rolled his eyes and stepped into line with the others, ignoring the way that Tyrian scrambled into position and almost immediately dropped prostrate down to his knees over the possibility that Salem had arrived.

Tyrian's behavior when it came to Salem was always concerning, but it was rare that anyone felt even a passing need to intervene in such matters.

The three of them waited, and when Arthur heard Tyrian take a deep inhale- always the sign that the Queen was present or at least near, since the man always heard her coming before any of the rest of them did. He looked over at Hazel, to see the man only nod and stand there, waiting. Once Salem appeared, he was sure to drop to one knee as was respectful.

For Watts, he was reminded of his days in the Atlesian military as he fell into parade rest and waited.

Tyrian picked his head up and whispered "she's not alone."

The others stared at the groveling man, unsure of what to make of that little revelation. Arthur had to think hard, normally Salem wouldn't bring anyone to the fortress unless it was under absolutely dire consequences. There was no way that she would be bringing someone there without a purpose.

"What do you mean that she's not alone, insect?" Arthur responded, straightening his tie for a moment.

Tyrian shot him a look that read as being nothing but discontent over the rather pointed insult. Arthur knew that Tyrian wasn't an insect and often took offense at such jabs, but since Arthur was always interested in winding others up so that he could get them to do his bidding later on, he didn't care.

"I mean-" Tyrian was about to speak and went silent, dropping his head and somehow deepening his bow even further as Salem finally approached the three of them and stood before them, hands laced together in front of them as she waited for something that would never be named.

"Watts." She didn't acknowledge the others, though Arthur didn't miss for a second the way that Tyrian seemed to reach a little closer for the woman that he so often called a Goddess, despite the repeated insistence that she did not possess such status.

This was something that they had been through many times though, Arthur reminded himself, bowing slightly to Salem, in that impolite Atlesian way where one never dropped their head or went any further than a shallow bow. In high society Atlas, there were fewer greater insults.

Salem didn't care for them, nor did she care that any insult be directed at her. If she wanted she could have struck all three of them down with little more than a look, but she never did.

"Your Grace?" Arthur finally said, grinning behind his mustache.

"How many times have I told you not to be cruel to dear Tyrian?" Arthur resisted the urge to roll his eyes over the question. "He didn't choose his genes, I see no purpose for your…" She paused for a moment, red eyes narrowing and glowing for a moment. " _Malignance._ "

"Merely reminding him of his place, Your Grace." Arthur responded, straightening up from that shallow bow.

Salem looked away from Arthur and raised a hand, signaling that the others rise to their feet to be addressed. Just as they were meant to, Tyrian and Hazel both rose to their feet, though Tyrian seemed to shuffle from side to side slightly out of nothing more than pure nervousness.

Arthur rolled his eyes over it.

"Watts." Salem said, commanding his attention over to her. "Do keep in mind that you are not so heavily prized yourself." Arthur tried to bite back a sneer, and Salem just turned slightly away from them both.

Arthur _knew_ that he was going to have to relent. If Salem had come to the three with them with something important that needed to be taken care of and paid attention to, then he was running along the strong possibility that he was going to end up frustrating the Queen, in which all three of them were likely to have a price to pay.

So when Arthur spoke, he reminded himself not to sneer or hurl insults as he was wont to do. "Of course, Your Grace."

Salem shook her head and turned away from the three of them to peer down a hallway. There was something down there, but Arthur couldn't say what it was. Of course, Tyrian had claimed that there was someone with Salem, but it wouldn't be the first time where the man's hearing had been wrong.

She let out a quiet breath and looked back between her three most loyal fighters before speaking. "I have someone that I need to introduce the three of you to." Salem announced, holding her head up so high that somehow she managed to make it feel like she was even looking down at Hazel, who towered over the rest of them. "I expect for all three of you to be on your best behavior."

Salem's eyes narrowed dangerously and her irises burned red to say very plainly that she meant business. "With that said." She turned her head and raised her voice, just loud enough that she would be able to be heard all the way down the hallway. "Cinder."

They waited silently, listening to only the clicking of high heels against the stone floors that filled Salem's fortress. Slowly, a young woman stepped into view, dressed in red and gold with a pair of swords crossed on her back.

Arthur's immediate thought was that it had been quite a long time since a child had been brought to the fortress. He supposed that the last had been the girl that Salem had wanted to become a Maiden. Arthur didn't remember her name. Savannah? Sepia? Sierra maybe? It didn't matter- that girl had died when they'd failed to capture the Maiden's powers the first time.

The fact that all of them were still alive after _that_ failure was a blessing in itself, Arthur thought bitterly.

So when Arthur looked at this Cinder Fall, he found himself trying to dissect her where she stood. There was something in the way that she presented herself that read as arrogance, and if he had to guess there wasn't a way that she wasn't a day over twenty one. Fairly attractive, something that would come into good use along the line, no doubt. If she was here with Salem, it meant that she'd been noticed for some sort of combat prowess.

All things considered, Arthur could say with absolute certainty that this was the girl that Salem had selected to be their Fall Maiden.

Provided she survived to see that great power.

Arthur couldn't pretend as though he didn't have his doubts.

Cinder came to stand beside Salem, and she looked between the three of them in a way that looked entirely too confident. The look of a child that was unaware of just how scary the monsters in front of her were. She would learn, soon enough, Arthur thought to himself.

"Hazel, Doctor Watts, Tyrian." Salem spoke. "This is Cinder Fall. I have selected her to be the next Fall Maiden." Her eyes had a glint of confidence in them. Oh, so Salem was sure about this one. That was interesting. Arthur wondered what the girl had promised Salem to get her there. "I do suspect that the three of you will see to it that this one stays alive."

Without a word having needed to be said, Tyrian seemed to be trying to shuffle backwards, most likely out of fear. When the last candidate had died, Tyrian had been nearly shattered for it. Arthur had been one of the ones tasked to putting him back together at the time. That wasn't to say that he and Hazel hadn't seen punishment themselves, just Tyrian had taken it the hardest.

"Yes, your grace." Hazel said, his voice as low and gravelly as ever.

Arthur grinned and he stared young Cinder Fall down. It had been a long time since there'd been fresh meat at the castle. "A pleasure," He greeted the girl with narrowed eyes. "I suppose."

Salem's eyes turned to Tyrian, who bowed low to the new girl, his hair flopping forward over his shoulder with the motion. Tyrian said nothing, and only straightened back up when his alleged Goddess reached out to gently touch the top of his head as a signal of sorts.

"Cinder-" The woman said, giving the newcomer a stern look. "Stand in formation with your new compatriots."

Cinder nodded, and wordlessly fell into line between Hazel and Tyrian, mostly because Hazel had stepped aside to make room between the two of them. Watts found himself thinking that he wasn't likely to be a fan of this new addition to their team, but it seemed that the three of them would have no choice in the matter.

Not that they usually got a choice in these things.

Carefully, Arthur craned his neck to get another good look at the girl. She stood there, looking entirely too confident as she stood between Tyrian and Hazel.

Soon, she would learn.

She'd learn to fear Tyrian once he began to act upon his more base impulses and his dependencies became apparent.

She'd learn to fear Hazel for his immense strength and unspoken anger.

She'd learn to fear him as well- for his intellect, his semblance, what he could do with a blade in a desperate situation.

The child had no idea what she was getting herself into, and Arthur felt absolutely no pity for her. The rest of them had gone through this, in some form. Of course, none had been quite like this. Tyrian had been a young child. Himself and Hazel had come into Salem's world by their own means.

But Salem didn't move to leave them, deciding to just stare them down for a bit as she looked for something in the three of them that couldn't be named or identified. The fact that she hadn't left or banished them from her sight meant a lot. If anything, she was sizing up the four of them and trying to make a decision about what she wanted for them to do.

"I expect the four of you to serve me loyally." Salem finally said, turning slightly and looking at Hazel. "Hazel, do see to it that young Cinder settles in well here."

Her eyes flashed to Arthur and Tyrian, standing side by side. "Consider yourselves partners for the time being. If anything, it should teach the two of you to be kinder to each other."

Arthur rolled his eyes, and just tried to ignore the way that Tyrian was looking at him with that too-wide grin that said that he had something going through his mind that was most likely dangerous. Behold, his new partner, Arthur thought bitterly to himself. No doubt he was going to be the one carrying their tandem for some number of years.

"Of course, your grace." Arthur finally responded.

Tyrian bowed low once again, and he seemed to be trembling in some feeling that toed along the line of being both fear and excitement. "As my Goddess commands."

"Rise, Tyrian." Salem sounded absolutely bored when she passed down the order. He didn't linger in his position for a second though, and soon Tyrian was standing completely upright, his tail flicking behind him occasionally.

Salem sighed quietly and stepped back, looking over the four of them once more. "From this day, the four of you will be Team WTCH. You are to act as my inner circle and as my most loyal followers. Keep in mind, any insolence will not be ignored." With those words, her burning red eyes focused on Arthur. "Watts, you are to lead the team, but I should remind you that such a role will require a level of _tact_ with regard to your teammates that you haven't yet expressed." Her eyes passed to Tyrian for a moment, and then back to Watts. "I do expect for you two to keep each other in line."

"Yes, My Goddess." Tyrian answered, bowing again, though it was just slightly. For a moment, there was a quirk of a smile on the corner of Salem's lips, but they all knew better than to read into it too deeply.

Taking a fast moment to compose his thoughts, Arthur finally spoke for himself. "I'll be sure to keep the entire team in line, Your Grace." He looked across to Hazel, his eyes passing over the newcomer almost instinctively. "I'll act as the tactical mind behind us."

"Yes." Salem didn't sound amused. "Very well. I expect for the four of you to spend the rest of the night getting familiar with each other and trying to form the bond of teammates."

If they were in a situation where it would have been tolerated, Arthur was sure that there would have been a collective groan amongst them, like students just assigned to a group project in one of the academies.

Salem was about to take a step away and leave them, but Arthur watched as she stopped dead in her tracks before turning to face them. She'd noticed something- that something was off about the four of them.

"Tyrian." She finally said, raising her voice to catch the thin man's attention. "Here." A simple raise of her hand would have surely sufficed to bring Tyrian to her, but Salem liked to use verbal commands in some situations. Perhaps it made her feel like she was being more forceful with him. Arthur suspected she preferred them because Tyrian acted like a loyal dog when she gave them.

Tyrian didn't creep forward- he took the first step towards her before nearly crumbling into a prostrate position before Salem. He was trembling, weak and afraid as he always was before his supposed Goddess. Arthur had seen this a thousand times over, and every time, he couldn't help but to want to judge the man for it.

Or rather, he wanted to chide him for it but knew that Salem wouldn't let him get away with such a thing so easily.

But the Queen was kind, when she wanted to be. She took the first step towards, and Tyrian inched his fingers away from her so that he didn't touch her. Arthur had learned that long ago- Tyrian wouldn't dare touch Salem without her expressed permission to do so first.

Carefully, she rested the tips of her fingers on the crown of Tyrian's head, and Arthur could have sworn that he'd seen the other man suppress a shudder over it. "Tyrian." Salem commanded the man at her feet's attention. "Your aura is broken."

Arthur rolled his eyes. There was a reason that he had brought it up to Tyrian earlier, and this was exactly it. For a moment he let his gaze wander back over to the girl that Salem had brought with her. All at once, things came together in Arthur's head when he realized that there were ways that he could surely _use_ this. After all, to have this sort of treatment occur in the presence of someone new...

Well, it was a shameful thing, no doubt. Something that he could used to press Tyrian whenever he felt the need for it.

"Yes my Queen." Tyrian answered though, all of the shaking and trembling that had seemed to have been in his body disappearing all at once. "I apologize."

Salem paused, and slowly her hand traveled down Tyrian's features so that she could cup his cheek and command his attention much more directly. "I will do you a favor, Tyrian, but in exchange, you must not let it break again."

Arthur and Hazel's eyes met for just a moment, and it was like the two of them were sharing a silent conversation that they'd had many times before. The two of them had been fighting together and working in close contact for so long that they didn't need words most of the time.

Not that Hazel ever needed words.

Cinder shifted slightly, and she looked between the two of them before her eyes flicked forward to Tyrian, whose body seemed to have gone awash with a violet light under Salem's touch. Anyone familiar with the inner workings of aura would have known what this was, no more than a gentle restoration..

"Yes, my Goddess." Tyrian barely managed to whisper as Salem held the contact with him until she was satisfied. Arthur had seen this many times over, sometimes with himself on the receiving end.

The fact that this was mostly being done with the intent of them impressing a child only left Arthur feeling more than just a little bitter. Tyrian's failure to stop in training had gotten him there, surely he should have been left to fend for himself.

Finally, the purple glow disappeared, and then Salem was turning to leave them. She paused, just outside of the threshold to the door of the training room and looked back at all of them with those cold red eyes that Arthur had come to be so familiar with.

"I expect to see you all in the War Room tonight." She announced coldly before leaving, the tall door closing behind her and leaving the newly-formed Team WTCH alone to their devices.

Once they were alone, Arthur was the first to break from their formation and look between his now three teammates. No doubt, they were going to have to be able to work this girl into shape if she was going to be of any use to them. But first, they needed to know what she was capable of.

So when it came time for him to address the girl directly, Arthur made an approach so that he stood in front of her and gave her a quick look up and down. "So you are the supposed future maiden?" He smirked. "How _underwhelming._ "

The girl stared back at him, too defiant for someone of her status and standing where she was right now. "I am going to be." She responded. "But I wonder, who are you?"

Her eyes narrowed and for a moment Arthur couldn't help but think that he liked the fire that burned in her eyes. She was determined. He would break her, eventually. And he wouldn't have to lay so much of a hand on her to do it.

"Me?" Arthur rolled his eyes. "Why, I believe that I am your superior, girl."

The girl was about to take a half-step forward to retaliate, but a too-large hand reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder, tugging her back. Hazel shot Arthur a glare, but Arthur couldn't help to smile back at the man. This was shaping up to be an interesting development so far, by the looks of things.

"Enough." Hazel commanded, finally dropping his hand away from Cinder and looking between the two. "She wants-"

"Our Goddess has given us a command!" Tyrian interjected, somehow managing to weasel himself into the centre of the discussion with much less trouble than one would have normally expected from him. "We are to learn to train together." That man's grin broke out finally, once again. The groveling man that had been present when Salem had been there was gone, replaced by excitement to see what this new girl was capable of.

Though, years of experience in close contact with Tyrian told him that a great part of what he wanted was nothing more than to show off what he himself was capable of to a new audience. It seemed that the performer in the man had never died, despite being taken away from his old life to live in Salem's fortress, cut off from man.

Fresh meat was hard to come by for all of them.

But ultimately, Hazel and Tyrian were right. There was work to be done.

Arthur let out a too heavy sigh. "In formation." He commanded, and watched as Tyrian and Hazel both took their spots at the center of the room as they always did. Tyrian crouched down and placed a stretched-out hand against the stone, and waited.

Cinder looked at the three of them, seemingly unsure of what she wanted to do. Of course, she was a child- one that Arthur expected would end up in training at one of the academies. He didn't have any doubts that he was going to end up being the one to throw Salem's weight around and make it happen.

Not amusing work, but Arthur couldn't pretend as though he wasn't a fan of the way that some would go out of their ways to entertain him. The Headmaster at Haven Academy had always been especially easy to push around. Atlas and Beacon's headmasters… not so much.

The fact that Beacon's headmaster was perhaps their greatest enemy in this war was only a minor issue that kept them away from Vale.

As for Shade- there was rarely anything out in Vacuo worth seeking for. They had been the last ones standing in the Great War before that final conclusive battle for a reason. They would be the hardest to take down.

Lastly, for the unusable options, there was Atlas. For Arthur, he had once called that kingdom home but had been swift to fall out of favor for it for a while. He'd been pushed out after all, and he'd even once known the fool that they called headmaster today. As things stood, Atlas was too strong for an infiltration.

Mistral was ripe for the picking, and so Watts expected that he should consider packing for a trip there whenever Salem decided that it was the best thing for him to go. Arthur supposed he didn't mind that so much. Mistral tended to at least be warm and rumors said that Leo Lionheart of Haven Academy was an excellent host.

Of course, _that_ was an issue for another day.

He looked the girl up and down and frowned when his eyes fell on that weapon that she had strapped across her back. As a team they'd never truly had someone that was very skilled with traditional ranged weaponry. Of course, Arthur had his semblance to rely on, but that could only go so far and on the rare occasion that he took too harsh of a beating that ability was lost.

Hazel's version of ranged strikes were imprecise and focused on attacking an area, and Tyrian liked to employ what one could call only describe as a "spray and pray" technique.

If this girl was worth anything with that bow of hers, then perhaps she wouldn't be so ill-suited to their team after all.

"Girl." Arthur raised his voice to command her over to him. "At my side. We'll see if you're worth anything." He paused, looking around the practice area that they used and thinking over whether or not there was anything else to prepare for. After a moment, he spoke up. "Hazel, Tyrian, stay back."

Tyrian's eyes went wide and he looked back over at Arthur over his shoulder in surprise, while Hazel just shrugged and dropped his hands down by his sides so that he could reach into his pockets if it was needed.

Arthur shot Cinder a mostly disapproving look. "Show me what you're capable of, what little it may be."

Cinder looked between the three of them and shot all of them a thoroughly disapproving look before speaking up. "I'm sure you'll see that I'm the most capable one here."

"You're an insolent child." Arthur grinned. "So I highly doubt that."

She grit her teeth, and Arthur did his best to ignore her, not that he thought it was possible. However, he was content to store that information away in his mind because he was sure that he'd just found a fairly convenient way that he was going to be under her skin.

In front of him, Tyrian's tail twitched and the man let out a quiet whine- the best obvious sign that there were finally grimm present, and Tyrian had managed to pick up on its location. Arthur rolled his eyes and reached out, clutching Tyrian's tail just at the base of his stinger so that the man couldn't spring to action and ruin this test. That earned a higher pitched whine from the man that bordered on pain.

Out of the shadows of the room, the first grimm emerged, a pair of taijitu coming after them from both sides. Arthur smirked and did nothing to move. He simply checked his watched and adjusted his tie. This girl would have to fight on her own.

Cinder shifted in her place, realizing all at once that she was being thrown to the metaphorical wolves as she detached her weapon so that it was a pair of swords and sprung into action against one of the grimm.

Hazel looked back at Arthur as Cinder made her first strike. "Oh, I know." Arthur responded with a roll of his eyes. Tyrian turned as well, to look back at him. Arthur just let out a too-heavy sigh and squeezed Tyrian's tail, just enough to make him more uncomfortable rather than injure. "We can't work with a child that can't fight. We need to know what she can even do."

"And if she dies?"

"Yes!" Tyrian answered, shifting uncomfortably and trying to squirm out of Arthur's grip. That was enough to tell Arthur that it was time for him to release Tyrian's tail, just for a little bit. It didn't seem like he was jumping into action. "The girl dying would displease our Goddess very much," Tyrian shifted again uncomfortably, even bringing his hands together in front of him. "We must not upset the Queen..."

Typical, Arthur thought as he watched the Taijitu beginning to wrap around young Cinder fall. "Get yourself together, Tyrian." he snarled. "Your distractions only serve to weaken us."

Hazel rolled his eyes and pulled away from their formation, crushing something in his hands as he finally approached the grimm and young Cinder fall. Arthur couldn't help but narrow his eyes in frustration over that when he watched the way that the dust formed into crystalline knucklebusters around Hazel's hands.

The man threw a first punch against the taijitu, which was enough to get Cinder out of its grip. Cinder took the chance to get back and away from him, and Arthur looked over at Tyrian. "Go."

That left him alone as the faunus rushed the grimm, ready to fight.

If he needed to, he would intervene then. But for now, Arthur was content to watch the others as they fought.

Hazel and Tyrian were able to move around each other in such a closely-coordinated manner that it was almost dance-like, while Cinder tried to work her way into things before making a decision to slide back away from the others, and with a wide wave of her arm, a number of swirling red glyphs appeared on the ground which quickly detonated into fire.

All at once, everything came together in Arthur's mind for how this girl was going to fit their team. Having another fighter like him was going to be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but young Cinder could afford to become a bit more _precise_. They couldn't afford to have the more experienced members of the team being blown up.

Bit by bit, the others whittled the grimm down until Arthur decided that it was his turn to intervene. He raised his hand and checked his watch again. Nearly two minutes had passed since he'd last checked, but he was sure that if it wasn't for Hazel and Tyrian's intervention the grimm wouldn't be suffering as badly as it was now.

Yellow sparks began to form in the palm of Arthur's hand, and he watched until it shaped itself into a bolt which he cleanly threw at the taijitu, where it landed squarely in the grimm's eye.

That was enough to dissipate it entirely.

The others just all turned and stared at him, young Cinder Fall looking the least pleased with the situation of all. "Well," Arthur spoke up. "It's wonderful to know that Her Grace chose a child to join us." He smirked. "To think, you wouldn't have made anywhere near as much progress if it wasn't for Tyrian and Hazel's intervention." Arthur narrowed his eyes and shot the two men a glare of sorts. Hazel seemed to brush it off, but Tyrian seemed to shrink back slightly.

"I didn't see you do much of anything." Cinder responded, taking a step in towards Arthur. "So what's your excuse?"

"Mine?" Arthur grinned. "Mine is that I don't have to prove myself. Neither does Hazel." Tyrian seemed to shrink further, and Arthur reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, grounding him. "Even simple Tyrian's proven himself in battle. You, girl, are merely a child that we know nothing about and can barely fight."

" _Arthur."_ Hazel's low voice cut through the room, almost like a beast's growl. He stepped forward and almost placed himself between Arthur and Cinder. It was enough to have the girl backing up, but Arthur didn't budge. He and Hazel both knew fully well that neither of them would lash out at each other.

Mostly because they both knew the consequences of what would happen if they did.

Tyrian edged his way in as well, though he didn't seem to take a side in things. "Our Goddess won't be pleased if she finds out about this." The man said, shifting slightly. "She would want-"

"For all of her closest fighters to be worth something." Arthur cut Tyrian off. "I'm sure that you're familiar." He sighed and began to fix his tie for a moment. "I have it in my mind that I should leave the three of you to train together." A pause. "After all, we all know that the three of you could use the workout."

Hazel grunted in frustration, and Tyrian shifted slightly, looking over at Cinder again. Cinder however, she was the one that Arthur was interested in. He wanted to see what she was actually capable of, especially if she was going to be the key to him getting what he wanted at the end of things anyways.

The girls' inexperience was going to be an impediment no doubt. The same way that Tyrian's impulsiveness and Hazel's shows of compassion could become impediments. That didn't matter, because Arthur _knew_ what his endgame was.

After all, Salem had promised him many a great thing once she took the world back. For Arthur, that meant power. That meant recognition, that meant that he was going to matter to a lot of people. He was going to be able to rule.

But the three of them were going to stand against him, and so Arthur had no qualms about turning his back on them.

"Very well." Watts mumbled, looking to Hazel and locking his eyes with him. "Do watch the children."

When Hazel's hands clenched at his side, Arthur did his best to ignore it before turning his back to his teammates. He was sure that he was going to hear from the rest of them later on in the night. He had no doubt in his mind that while Cinder tried to settle into whatever quarters she was given, Hazel was going to be after him later on to chastise him in that quiet way that he always did. Tyrian wouldn't make an attempt at it, but if he got a chance, Arthur had no doubt that Tyrian was going to go to Salem and hiss stories into her ear about what he'd done.

Assuming that Salem would listen.

That was fine.

Arthur doubted he would see true any serious punishment for it.

He left the room and his new teammates behind, and almost as soon as the door closed behind him, Watts was able to cut himself off from everything mentally. He had other work to do.

If the others had a problem with it, then they could come and confront him about it.

None of them would, not truly.

They knew their places.


End file.
